Hana Bank, Why Bet $670 Million on Upbit?

▲ Dunamu

Hana Bank has bet $670 million on Dunamu, the operator of Upbit. This is virtually the first time one of Korea's four major commercial banks has directly acquired a large stake in a cryptocurrency exchange operator, leading the market to evaluate it as “the signal for the Korean financial sector's transition to digital assets.”

According to the investment media FX Leaders on May 15 (local time), Hana Bank decided to acquire a 6.55% stake in Dunamu, held by Kakao Investment, for approximately $670 million. The transaction is expected to be finalized on June 15, and with this investment, Hana Bank will become Dunamu's fourth largest shareholder, following Dunamu Chairman Song Chi-hyung, Vice Chairman Kim Hyeong-nyeon, and Woori Technology Investment. The media described this deal as the largest single cryptocurrency investment in the history of the Korean banking sector.

Dunamu operates Upbit, the largest digital asset exchange in Korea. Last year, Dunamu recorded sales of KRW 1.56 trillion and a net profit of KRW 709 billion, with total assets reaching KRW 13.17 trillion. Until now, domestic banks have limited their cooperation to providing real-name accounts for exchanges and focusing on anti-money laundering (AML), but this direct acquisition of an exchange stake and strategic collaboration is considered unusual.

Both parties plan to expand cooperation in blockchain-based financial services, stablecoins, overseas remittances, and digital asset management in the future. Ham Young-joo, Chairman of Hana Financial Group, explained this as a “strategic decision to accelerate digital asset-based financial innovation.” The media evaluated that the Korean financial sector is moving beyond a mere wait-and-see approach and entering a phase of actual digital asset business expansion.

In particular, Hana Bank has already conducted a proof-of-concept (PoC) for a KRW-pegged stablecoin based on XRP Ledger (XRPL). Through collaboration with XRPL Korea and Axelar, it has continued experiments in cross-border payments and institutional digital asset infrastructure, and this investment in Dunamu is analyzed to significantly increase the possibility of connecting related businesses with the Upbit platform for full-scale expansion. In fact, after the announcement, XRP trading volume on Upbit exceeded $330 million in 24 hours, surpassing Bitcoin's $217 million and Ethereum's $109 million.

The media also noted the possibility that this collaboration between Hana Bank and Dunamu could become a standard model for the financial sector in the future, especially as Korean financial authorities are currently considering easing restrictions on corporate digital asset exposure. Furthermore, with the reported moves last year to merge Naver Financial and Dunamu, there is also a prospect that a new digital financial ecosystem combining domestic internet platforms, banks, and cryptocurrency exchanges could be formed.

*Disclaimer: This article is for investment reference only, and we are not responsible for any investment losses based on it. The content should be interpreted for informational purposes only.*